Passing Storm
by Logicaly Illogical
Summary: this is what happens when your brother overhears that you have a mate from another Clan and then is murdered because he knows this is my 1st challenge for NightClan rated T for normal warriors sh*breaks off to have a spontaneous coughing fit*tuff


Thornstrike padded silently through the trees on his way to the Meeting tree. once he had known every paw-step of the forest, but now... ever since his brother died 3 sunrises ago, his forest felt stranger than the far side of the moon. nothing was the same without Stormstrike... his Clanmates, who had once been his sole purpose of life, were strangers to him. the birdsong that he'd liked to listen to while he padded through the forest on long walks with his brother sounded like harsh, mocking laughter, as birds rejoiced the loss of a hunter. Even the juicy squirrels that he had once enjoyed chasing with Stormstrike for tasted of nothing. _Lilyheart will understand_... he thought sadly. Lilyheart, his ThunderClan mate, had watched her sister, Seedflower, brutally murdered at the claws of WindClan warriors over a mouse that had its nose over the border when Seedflower killed it. he was just about to begin to climb the Meeting Tree when he heard voices at the top of it. as silently as he could manage, he began to climb, "Oh Cinderflame! He'll never forgive me when he finds out I did it! I should've smelled the ShadowClan on him before i killed him, but I didn't!" Lilyheart wailed. Throwing caution to the winds, Thornstrike padded up to the she-cat, "You killed Stormstrike?" he whispered and both she-cats whipped around to face him, and it was a while before Lilyheart flung herself to his paws "I-I-I'm s-s-sorry! He'd overheard me telling Cinderflame," she flicked her tail at the she-cat behind her, "I wasn't thinking clearly, I only knew that he knew about-" her voice dropped to a pained whisper, "about us." he looked down on the pitiful looking she-cat that crouched at his paws, tears streaming down her beautiful face. He could not bring himself to tell her the violent storm of emotions that churned in his grief-weary head, so bent down to give her striped ear a swift, comforting lick, "It's alright," he murmured, concern softening his tone, "I understand. I should've told him anyway, because if he knew for sure, and didn't need to prove it, then he wouldn't've followed me." his mate looked up at him with hope sparkling in her beautiful amber eyes as she asked him, "Then we're still mates?" for a heartbeat Thornstrike was torn. Wouldn't it be disloyalty, to remain mates with the _ThunderClan_ murderer of his brother? But no matter how hard he tried, Thornstrike couldn't lie to himself or his mate. He did love Lilyheart, and he really didn't blame her for wanting... well, them, to remain secret. "yes," he murmured, "I still love you."

* * *

"Thornstrike? Do you want to patrol today?" three days had passed since his talk with Lilyheart, and the soft, gentle, sympathetic tones that his Clanmates used around him infuriated Thornstrike more than ever. "Sure!" he snapped, not caring if his tone was so sharp that Featherheart, the new ShadowClan deputy, flinched as if he'd clawed her, "I'll go and kill something over a matter worth less than half a mouse-tail! I haven't had enough death in my life recently!" He wasn't an anxious kit, and his Clanmates needed stop treating him like one!He could he heavy pawsteps heading towards him and thought, _Oh great! another Clanmate to tell me just how deeply sorry they were! they'll talk to me like i'm a kit who's had a bad dream! comforting me in that kind, sympathetic voi- _"Thornstrike, walk with me." the voice that cut through his thought wasn't kind or sympathetic, in fact, it was rather harsh, "That wasn't a question. Let's go." Thornstrike looked up to see his leader, Dawnstar, staring down at him, grim disapproval glinting in her usually warm eyes. Due to the kind gazes that he'd become accustomed to, he found this rather intimidating. Still, he stood and followed her out, deep into the forest. Once they were way out of ear-shot of anything, Dawnstar turned on him, "Who do you think you are?" she hissed, and he shrank in the face of her fury, "Do you know that Featherheart asked me if she could resign? When I asked her why, what do you think she said? Do you think that she said she was too old? To inexperienced? Simply unfit? No! She doesn't want to be the target of your grief just because she must assign you to patrols! Your Clanmates are not your scratching posts! If your claws are dull then sharpen them on a tree! Do you think that Stormstrike wanted you to-" he'd heard enough. "Do not speak of Stormstrike in front of me!" Thornstrike snarled, then turned tail and fled. thinking fast, he darted up the nearest tree and began to race through them, leaping from ranch to branch. Leaves blurred beneath him as he leaped onward, and he let out a gasp of surprise as he found that there were no branches to support him. _I'm at the me_- the thought deserted him as he saw a long tail swishing form side to side before him. He instinctively called a greeting, "Lilyheart!" his mate whipped around to face him, "Thornstrike! Thank StarClan! I need to talk to you," her mew became more urgent, "I'm expecting kits," when Thornstrike looked blankly at her, she explained with an exasperated sigh, "Your kits mouse-brain!" it was a while before he could respond, "That's wonderful! you'll be a great mother to them and i'll tea-" she silenced him with a lash of her tail, "That's not the point! You know what the Clans think of half-Clan kits! Where would they grow up? Which Clan would they be loyal to?Would they even know that we're their parents together?" He tried to reassure her, but they both knew the words were empty.

* * *

Two moons passed, and things were finally getting back to normal. Cats treated Thornstrike like the warrior that he was, though probably because he'd begun to start acting like a warrior again. He'd always grieve for Stormstrike, but now he had kits to look forward to. Suddenly he was jerked from his happy brooding by the sound of a cat crashing through the thorn tunnel at the entrance to the camp, "Is Thornstrike here?" the tom gasped between heavy breaths. The tom's dappled ginger flanks heaved as he fought to choke out the next words, "One of our queens is kitting, and she keeps screeching for him." Dawnstar turned to look at Thornstrike, "You'd better go, if you're not back by dawn tomorrow I'm sending a warrior after you." He nodded and raced out of camp, the ThunderClan tom hard on his heels.

* * *

By the time they'd reached the ThunderClan nursery, Thornstrike knew something had gone wrong. He shouldered his way through the brambles and saw Lilyheart lying in a pool of blood. She gave a massive heave and a tiny, dark gray, compact tom slid into the thick red liquid, to be plucked out at once by the medicine cat crouching there. No cat looked up as Thornstrike slid forward. Lilyheart looked up at him as he licked her ear, "Oh Thornstrike... be strong when I'm gone... and take care of-" she broke off, her eyes widening in horror, "I'm so sorry!" she whispered, then continued, barely breathing, "take care of Stormkit" with that the light began to fade from her amber eyes. he licked her desperately, trying to revive her, as a paw pressed on his shoulder. Thornstrike turned to see Stormstrike standing over the motionless body of his only son, eyes hard as flint as he looked down on his murderer. "Thank you brother, your love has avenged me. Take care of me this time." Stormstrike began to fade, got paler until the walls of the nursery could be seen clearly through him. For a heartbeat Stormstrike's green eyes stared at him, then vanished all together. In the same moment, Stormkit let out a thin wail. Thornstrike turned to his son, _Be strong young Stormkit, honor your past, for it is nobler than any here. _Thornstrike turned his eyes to the rising sun, just outside the nursery, rising bravely over the hollow. To him, no dawn had ever been brighter.


End file.
